Uber tests self-driving technology in Toronto nine months after fatal crash — but with real drivers at the wheel

For now, cars will gather mapping data for offline testing

James McLeod

Updated: December 20, 2018

An Uber driverless car seen in 2016. Uber Technologies Inc. says its self-driving vehicles have returned to the streets of Toronto in a modified program after the company halted testing earlier this year when one of its autonomous vehicles struck and killed a pedestrian in Arizona. AP/Eric Risberg

Uber Technologies Inc. will put self-driving cars back on the road this morning, nine months after one of the company’s autonomous vehicles struck an killed a pedestrian in Tempe, Arizona.

In an interview with the Financial Post, Uber Advanced Technologies Group (ATG) chief scientist Raquel Urtasun stressed that the company has undergone exhaustive study and revised policies to make safety the top priority.

Uber Volvo xc90 cars will only be operating in self-driving mode in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

But starting Thursday, the ride-sharing company will be driving autonomous vehicles on roads in and around Toronto, but for the time being those cars will be controlled by a trained “Mission Specialist” with a second person riding in the passenger seat.

For now, the on-road testing will focus on improved mapping capability by Uber, using sensors on the car to build an accurate digital model of the road environment.

“The self-driving tech will be tested not on the vehicle on the road, but will be tested offline afterwards,” Urtasun said.

“We have done a very extensive revamp of our simulation systems, so then we can test the whole software stack in simulation in the lab, without requiring us to be on the road at every point in time.”

Thursday’s announcement comes at a critical time for Uber. The company has reportedly already filed paperwork with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for an IPO in 2019.

Moreover, Alphabet Inc. subsidiary Waymo is already well ahead of Uber when it comes to self-driving cars. Waymo announced this fall that its cars have driven more than 10 million miles on public roads, and the Google sister-company been testing fully autonomous vehicles — without a driver in the car — in California.

In early December, the Waymo announced that it was launching a consumer ride pilot project for around 400 pre-approved early adopters.

Urtasun said that Uber isn’t responding to pressure from Waymo.

“This is a fairly competitive industry, but we don’t feel pressure to go back to the road as soon as possible,” she said. “That is not what we’re trying to do. Our pressure is, actually, we should lead in safety in self-driving.”

Uber started testing autonomous vehicles in 2016, but pulled all its autonomous vehicles off the road in March, when one of its Volvo cars struck and killed a woman at night in Tempe while she was walking a bicycle across the road.

Since the accident, Uber has stressed a wholesale reexamination of safety practices, and last month the company published an extensive safety report about its self-driving car plans.

At the front of the report, CEO Dara Khosrowshahi talked about the safety, environmental and quality of life benefits of self-driving cars, and hinted that they would resume testing soon.

“We know that this transition is not achievable without testing on public roads,” Khosrowshahi said. “We are committed to anticipating and managing risks that may come with this type of testing, but we cannot — as no self-driving developer can — anticipate and eliminate every one.”

Along with two people in all cars for autonomous vehicle testing, the cars are now outfitted with internal systems that can monitor drivers to track whether they’re paying attention to the road.

Urtasun said that no company is ready to deploy self-driving cars as a large-scale service any time soon.

“At scale, it’s going to take a long time, and Uber is investing for the long run. There’s a lot of technological pieces and regulatory pieces for the adoption to come together for self-driving cars, and that’s not going to happen tomorrow,” she said.

“Small pilots in small areas wherever, that’s something that’s closer, but what we are talking about in order to really change the way that society works, and really contribute to that, is really going to take a long time.”

In spite of the fatal accident in Arizona, Urtasun said she believes that autonomous vehicles will ultimately save lives.

“So 1.3 million people die every year on the road. That’s like a person every minute,” she said.

“As a scientist — now, I’m talking as myself — it’s my duty to push this technology so that we reduce that number, and we try to get that to as minimal as possible, and self-driving cars are going to be, definitely, a transformation of technology so that the number of fatalities reduces.”

Urtasun said the company will make a public announcement before any Uber cars operate in self-driving mode on Canadian roads.

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